Host — Host(Blu Ray)
Host appeared summer of last year as a steamed film on horror VOD platform Shudder. It was directed by respected Brit writer/ director Rob Savage- who got great praise for his 2012 feature lengthy debut Strings- which at the age of eighteen he wrote, directed, shot, co-produced and edited on a micro-budget. So far he’s notched up an impressive 19 directorial credits- taking feature-length/ short films. Host, I guess sits just between been a short & feature-length film, as it slides in just under the hour mark. And really it’s perfect as it is- blending just enough character detail, with often ripping & roaring mix of creepiness, well-placed & well-realized jump scares, and the odd touches of gore.
The film begins with us focusing in on Haley (Haley Bishop) - an American woman living on her in a flat in the UK. She starts off the Zoom processe by first ringing Jemma (Jemma Moore)- a bespeckled British Asian women, whose is both geeky & playful. Fairly soon the other four members of the zoom chat join- they talk about what to expect from the medium that Haley has arranged for the group, urging them all to take it seriously. In time the medium Seylan(Seylan Baxter)- an older middle age Scottish women joins, and the group start getting into the flow of the Séance with Seylan guiding the whole thing in relaxed manner. When she asks the group if there is anyone they want to contact, Jemma pipes up about her school college who hang himself after bulling- it turns out this was a lie, and with it she unleashes a demon or dark spirit into each of the group's homes. I won’t detail the plot further, as it’ll take the rewarding & at points jarring surprises that appear along the way.
Each character is well enough painted, with each actor coming off as largely believable- so you quickly get pulled into the whole thing. Also in the first quarter, we get a few light chuckles too- which puts you at ease with the friends. As things develop- the dread & tension is slowing eased-up, gently amping up to an explosion of supernatural attacks. We get a good blend of creepy & stalking POV, sudden & largely effective jump scares, and some fairly intense/ fleeting gore attacks along the way. There’s little detail as to why the entity attacks, or who it could be - but this makes the whole thing run as a more tightly & tense ride. Host really is one of the better films in the found footage genre in recent years- and it’s great for once to come across a film that truly does stand up to its hype.
Moving onto this Blu Ray release of the film- and we get a good selection of extra content on the disc. First up we get a commentary track with director Rob Savage & producer Douglas Cox. This is a nicely laid-back affair, with the pair discussing a selection of cast, & set-up of shots & use of unseen flatmates to create effects. They discuss the editing down of the two hundred hours of footage they had, getting input from a real medium, how certain effects where done, and editing it down for Shudder- where the film first played. Next, we get a cast commentary track- this features all the main cast except the medium- it’s as expected a very chatty affair, with each actor talking about their own scenes, how they set up effects & logistics of it all-it's an ok track, though we do get repeated details from the first track. We get a cast interview featurette- this runs around the twenty-minute mark, and gives a good insight into how they got the roles/ etc. We get a thirty-five minute behind the scenes featurette, which details more about how it was all set-up/ put together. We get a just over hour-long BFI interview- this is fitting done via Zoom, and talking of Zoom interviews we get another half an hour one with Evolution of Horror. There’s the original short prank video that influenced the film, another shorter prank film. We get the cast/ crew doing a real Séance. And lastly, there's two short films from Rob Savage- the first is the longest, it runs around fifteen minutes & is entitled Dawn Of The Deaf- which finds a group of deaf people surviving an audio event that knocks out the rest of the population, before turning them into Zombies. Then there’s Salt- this is more of a trailer of idea, featuring two characters who are putting salt around things to avoid demons. Both are worth a watch, and I could definitely see that Dawn….would make for a great full-length film.
The finished release is presented in a rigid slipcase featuring new artwork- inside this is a perfectly bound booklet, which features the films original story outline & new essays by Ella Kemp & Richard Johnson. With also a selection of six art cards to coming with the set- I can’t comment on these as we were just sent a screener disc.
Since I first heard about Host last year- I was keen to check the film out, and hoped it wouldn’t just be another over-hyped horror film, and I’m happy to say it’s not. Instead it’s one of the best British addition to horror cinema in some years. And it’s well worth picking up this new Second Sight release- as we get a good/ interesting selection of extras, and a neat boxset presentation.